Tales of Lion-Turtle Elementary School and Duckly-Turtle Kindergarten
by Beifongs
Summary: After deciding that home schooling was not appropriated to her kids anymore, the Bei Fong children start going to regular school. But isn't going to be easy, since the girls were not raised as any other kids. They will have to learn how to deal with classmate, homework, schadules and etc. Rated T for language
1. Chapter 1- Do not bury your friends

**Hey guys. English is not my first language, so sorry for any mistakes. I would be happy to correct any mistakes if you point it out!**

**This will be a slice of life, some action will be seen eventually. I promise lots of bending, tough. We are talking about the Bei Fongs after all.**

**I am myself a teacher, I have worked with both kindergarten and Elementary School, and I based many thing on my own experience and studies on the area. I hope I can bring some sparkles to your hearts with it.**

**I am trying to keep the time line proper, but there maybe adaptations. There will be extra chapters focusing on Tokka, if you do not support them, just skip it, they will not impact in the overall story line.**

**I hope you enjoy it. Please rate, comment and PM. I am a very sensible girl who loves to get some attention, and I love talking about my fandom.**

xxXXXxx

Lin, the eight years old Bei Fong girl whose hair was still wet, and Suyin, the nearly completed three years old, all full of dirt, were completely bored at the one hour monologue the water bender Katara had been giving them. Su was so bored that her eyes were almost closing. At her age a five minutes conversation is something challenging, and that was simply unbearable. She had stopped to pay attention to the woman (who she called "_aunty_") and was about to sleep. Lin, on other hand, was very alert. She had not said a thing for the last half hour, since Katara would always interrupt her with something like "_I'm not done yet_" or "_It's my turn to talk_" but the Bei Fong wished she could scream out her lounges in frustration. The girl never thought they would be so happy to feel her mother's footsteps by the door, like if she was their savior.

"What's going on? Did anybody got hurt?" Toph Bei Fong, chief of police in Republic City was still wearing her uniform. As soon as she got into the room Lin stood up, clearly happy to see her mother and the young Su run to her arms on a big hug as she was seeking for help.

Toph grabbed the girl in her arms thanking the spirits that she as all right.

"Only minor injuries, but -" Katara was interrupted by the impatient voice of the girls' mother.

"Then what is so important that I had to leave my job earlier today?"

"This has to stop, Toph, the kids cannot continue behaving this way" the water bender was rather disappointed about the lack of commitment of the police chief. She has been home schooling her daughters for years, just like her own kids, Kya, Bumi and Tenzin, as they were part of her own family. For Katara's frustration, Toph did not seem to take part on their education. They never were grounded; they never were reprehended, not by their mother.

At that point Lin also rushed into her mother's direction "It's all Su's fault, mom! I was just trying to help an- "

"Don't try to justify your actions, young lady, you behaved just as bad as your sister" Katara interrupted the Bei Fong girl for the fourth time in the last hour, making Lin cross her arms in disappointment.

"Ok… I have no idea of what is going on. So can you try, one at a time, tell me what is going on?" the police chief said in a lack of patience.

They had a sit, and Katara told Toph how her youngest had started a fight with Tenzin, earth bending a rock onto him and blaming Lin of it, since she apparently could still not bend. Tenzin and Lin were involved in an argument for a few moments until they started a real fight. The result, beside some broken pots and the destruction of part of the pavement of the garden, was that both Tenzin and Su were buried into the ground for half an hour until the Katara's older kids found them. Thanks to Lin's skills, neither Tenzin nor Suyin got hurt, but the incident drove Katara crazy.

"The thing is, Toph, you have to do something about those girls attitude" The water bender really was exulted, this was not the first incident she had, but she by the tone of her voice, all could notice that she was hoping it to be the last.

"I don't need you to teach me how to rise my kids, Katara" the girl's mother groaned at avatar's wife words, she could not believe she had left her desk because of that. Even after all those years, her friend knew how to annoy her. Even the tone of her voice was irritating.

At this point of the conversation, Aang joined the group, followed by Tenzin, who had a bandage on his forehead. "Well, good we are all together. Tenzin has something to say to Lin"

"I'm sorry I didn't believe in you, Lin. And that I threw into the water… and that I hit you…"

Lin frowned "Apology accepted"

There was a brief silence moment, all looking to the oldest of the Bei Fong kids.

"Is that it? Don't you need to say anything to Tenzin?" the Avatar added.

"Like what?" Lin was still with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"_'__I am sorry' _would be nice" Katara pointed out.

"No way" Lin was offended at the Avatar's wife words. "I didn't do anything wrong!"

"You buried me!" Tenzin screamed.

"You could still breath_, air head_" it was amazing how Lin sounded just like her mother calling Tenzin names.

The adults started all talking at the same time, Katara and Toph were very loud, and Aang was just trying to calm them down, but he knew that when those two were arguing the best thing to do was to be as quiet as possible. They only stopped as Suyin started crying, so Toph knelt and got her youngest on her lap to calm her down.

"Things cannot continue the way they are, Toph. In a regular school both of them would be suspended" Katara conclude in a nicer tone, trying not to scare the infant even more "Suyin has the dirtiest mouth I have ever seen, she is teaching bad words to my kids, who are much older than her! Moreover, Lin is so stubborn that she thinks she can boss everyone around; I can't even let her close to Bumi. They would kill each other."

Toph rolled her blind eyes as she rocked her baby girl, who was now in silence. She did not want to keep arguing about it. She just wanted to take her girls home, knowing the water bender as good as she does, Toph knew she probably have given them a lecture about how unappropriated that was. Therefore, she just gave up. "You are right, Katara. I will get home and we are going to have a _loooong_ conversation about it. There will be consequences to your behavior today, girls. Starting with saying sorry to Tenzin."

"I'm sorry" Lin said bitterly, holding her mother's free hand.

"Sorry" Suyin said in a very low voice, as she was herself so tired of the whole situation.

"I'm sorry for the trouble. See you guys latter" Toph left the island holding Su on with her left arm and holding hands with Lin.

xxXXXxx

The Bei Fong residence was not far away from the Air Temple Island, but the walk that day seamed as long as crossing all the walls of Ba Sing Se on foot. The mother's silence was what make it unbearable. The girls were almost never grounded, when they were, the punishment usually came from _aunt_ Katara or _uncle_ Sokka, they could not remember when the last time their mother punished them. Suyin was already sleeping on her mother's lap, but Lin's heart was still racing worried about what would happen.

"Mom, are you really mad at us?" Lin broke the silence.

"Mad? I'm furious" Her mother spoke in a very low level, so the youngest Bei Fong would not wake up. "I'm not sure if I am at you and your sister or at Aang and Katara. Hunf, kids are such a blessing" she concluded ironically.

That was the last word spoken until they got home. They were earlier than usual, so the sun was not completely down yet. The routine continued the same, Lin was busy with some house chores, and Toph went to Suyin's room, since she probably didn't have her nap that day, and looked really tired.

As Toph left her daughter on her bad for a nap before supper, the girl groaned opening her green eyes and staring at her mother

"Did I woke you up, baby girl?" Toph sited next to her daughter on her bed, which was recently bought, since she was not a baby anymore, so the cradle needed to go.

"Mom" she rubbed her eyes yawning "I'm sorry. Because of me _aunty_ Katara was mad at you"

"Don't be sorry. _Sugar Queen_ and I are always fighting, but we like each other really much, just like you and your sister" The mother rubbed her girl's hair with a calm smile "Did you really earth bended?"

"Uhum" The girl nodded, but she was still worried that this would upset her mom.

"That's my girl. You did in such a young age, even before your own mother. You are a natural at this!"

"I did….?" The girl's voice was innocent and surprised "You not mad, mama?"

"Maybe a little. But this doesn't matter now, I'm so proud of you."

"But _aunty_ Katara said I was _thumbs down_ today" that was the expression she used when they did not behave well. At her age, Suyin could not discerned right from wrong, she just knew what adults told her. "She said the rules are no bending during classes"

"_Sugar Queen_ doesn't get that sometimes, to do something _awesome_ you have to brake some rules" she giggled, touching gently the point of Su's nose with her finger "I, myself, used to brake a lot of rules. That is part of growing up."

The little girl smiled, proud of herself. In fact, what she did was incredible. She earth bended for the first time that day. She closed her eyes and snuggled herself into the blankets. "I love you, mama"

"I love you too, my badgermole" Toph said kissing her daughters forehead.

She stayed at her room for a few more minutes, just until she was sure her baby was already sleeping. Then she tried to leave the room as quietly as possible, so she would not wake her up again.

Lin was in the backyard at this point. She was punching a bunch of rocks as to stress out. As she broke one into pieces she bended another one from the ground, angrily kicking and braking it.

Toph sited at the garden. Her eyes were closed, observing with attention every single move of her daughter. She was good for her age. She would be a metal bender in no time. However, that was far from her best performance. She was so angry that her moves were lacking technique.

"Humf… pay attention on what you're doing, badgermole" Toph interrupted clucking her tongue.

"Not now, mom. I'm not training, I'm just…." She throw the rock away, hitting the wall "chilling out".

Toph took a deep breath and stood up, going next to her. She got the rocks back together, gathering them into a big squared shape. "When you are angry you can't let this affect your bending. Concentrate your energy into one point makes you vulnerable. You never give a hundred per cent of yourself in one move; instead, you should make a series of well thought movements." She made around four movements, that did not seem to make much harm to the rock, nothing but some cracks. "And then you just let its own weigh brig your opponent down" she touched the rock softly, with the palm of her hand, and it became nothing dust, in front of Lin's eyes.

The young girl was flabbergasted. She just loved to train with her mother. She knew much more than uncle Aang could ever teach her. It took her a few moments to come back from her thoughts and finally get a new rock and try it herself. "Yes, chief"

Smooth, but strong. Consciousness, but full of feelings. Just like her mother, she turned the rock into dust within a few moves. She could not help but smile observing the dust being dragged by the wind as the sun finally came down and only the moon and the stars were lightning the Bei Fong's backyard. Lin cleaned her throat, and stopped smiling, concentrating her attention back to her mother, still believing she was upset "How many times should I repeat this exercise, chief?"

"As many as you feel like" she smiled tapping on her daughter's shoulder "Today you proved that you are really a great bender. You were able to immobilize Tinkle Toes' son and your sister at the same time. And believe me; I know how hard it is to make Su stop moving."

"So, you are not angry anymore?" Lin looked up at her mother still surprised.

"I already told you. I am furious. But this doesn't change the fact that you did a good job today. You did what you needed to stop the fight without causing any harm to them" she pushed her daughter closer, into a hug "I will not be surprised if in a few years you join the metal bending police force"

"Do you really think I can do it?" she sounded rather exited.

"Of course. But just if that is what you want"

"It's what I've always dreamed about!" and it was indeed. She created an incredible admiration for Toph's job, and, just like any eight years old girl, she would make everything to be just like her mother.

"So it's better if we start working on your metal bending skills as soon as possible. After today, I have no doubt you're ready"

Without noticing, Toph was showing two different parts of herself to her kids. While her older girl was admired by her sense of justice, the young Suyin created an esteem about breaking the rules, just like her mother used to do. It was not possible, back then, to ever imagine how this would always impact on the Bei Fong's lives.

xxXXXxx

Just like any ordinary Friday, Sokka went to the Bei Fong's house for dinner. But this time he looked startled while opening the door.

"Are the girls alright?!" He was even louder than normal. Toph, who was lying down on the couch, trying to get some rest after that hard day (feet up and everything), just frowned at the councilman's voice level.

"Yeah… the girls are fine." She sat up waving her hand on Sokka's general direction

"Are you sure? When I stepped by the station and one of your man said you left earlier I was almost sure someone might have died!" He was steady still in front of the door holding take out bags he had got for supper. In fact, a very few things could drag Toph out of her duty as police chief. One of the few was her duties as a mother, though she did not like people in general to think so.

"Don't be so hysterical, Suyin is still in bad… well… forget about it… she just woke up" she twisted her mouth sensing her daughter's little feet touching the ground at her bedroom "Is that inherited? I hope not. You know, it was exactly this same hysteria that got me out of work to go to the Air Temple Island. Your sister is such a drama queen. And at the end… it was nothing serious, she was just freaking out about Su earth bending and Lin burring Twinkle Toes Junior to the ground."

"Lin did what…? Wait… did you say that Su earth- "

At this point Suyin appeared on the corridor, holding a water tribe blanket and badgermole plush. She opened that marvelous smile that just three years olds know how to do and run into Sokka "Uncle Sokka! You're home!"

"Hey, baby girl!" He said grabbing her and spinning around with her in the air "I've heard you can earth band. Is that so?"

"Uhum!" the little girl nodded giving the councilman a big hug "I threw a rock right into Tenzin's head! Puft!"

"No wonder why my sister got so mad" He looked at her trying to seem angry.

"Twinkle Toes is a pussy!" she said giggling at her "uncle's" face. She didn't really know what she was saying, she just heard it so many time, from her mother, and from Lin, that she mimic it every time she could. In fact, she thought it had something to do with cats, although she never saw any resemblance.

"Hey, watch out these words. You are talking about my nephew" He putted the little girl on the floor "But he really looks like his father too much…. Well, never mind! Now, go get your sister, I brought dinner"

Suyin already knew where her sister should be. Outside, training her bending, as usual. She went there skipping, while her blanket touched the ground. Toph stood up and went to the dining room setting up the table

"I thought we agreed we'd have barbecue today, goatee man" the blind woman said sniffing the air "Why did we end up with noodles take outs?"

"I was worried about the girls, so I got something faster" Sokka said taking out the lamem bags out and putting it on the plates. He was not officially part of the family, but he constantly showed up at the end of the day and even spent some weekends with Toph and the girls, what made them really close. Being there, on a Friday night, was just standard. He made himself home. "They look in trouble, are they going to be grounded?"

"Don't overdo it. I know how to raise _my _kids" she said, focusing on the word "my", what made Sokka frowned "Now, you owe me some meat."

"They can't keep getting away with their bad decisions, Toph. You have to stablish limits" he insisted.

"If you start talking like your sister I will kick you out" Toph said hitting the chopsticks on the table.

"I know I'm _not supposed to_ be their father, but I want what is best for the girls too. Let me talk to them about it"

Toph kept silence for a long moment. She did not like to admit, but she had some trouble saying no to Sokka. "Fine… but I am telling you, if you make a statement that discourage them…"

"You have my word" he looked around for a moment "Speaking of which, the girls are taking too long to show up for supper?"

"Don't worry, Lin showed Su some moves and they are already going to wash themselves"

Imagining those two training together made the Councilman smile "Now these two might finally get along, since they have some common _ground_" he laughed at his own joke, as Toph just pretended to don't find it funny.

xxXXXxx

The supper looked just as usual, they all talked about their days and what they did during the week, and, eventually the incident on the Air Temple Island was mentioned. This made both Lin and Suyin look down a little worried about what Sokka would say. He did not make a sermon out of it, but he made sure to point out that violence was not the answer to any problem.

"So, I know aunt Katara was overdoing it, but she was right at some point. We need to make sure nothing like this will happen again" He said finally, taking some noodles, forgetting about trying to look like a responsible grown up, as speaking with his mouth full.

"Maybe… we should go to regular school" Lin said, and this made Suyin and Sokka stare at her impressed. Toph just tried not to choke on her noodles. But the older girl continued. "I know it sounds strange, but I am almost nine years old and I have never met people outside our… "_family_"… and there we are going to have to respect the school's rules."

There was a non-spoken rule between all the avatar team members that their lives should be as private as possible. Aang was the Avatar, Sokka was the United Republic Councilman, and Toph was chief of police. Not to mention war heroes. Journalists and all sort of people naturally followed them, so they avoided putting their personal lives to the public.

It has not been more than two years since Sokka got divorced, and paparazzi had just stopped following him everywhere to make all sorts of unpleasant questions. Toph was also the center of attention during both of her pregnancies, especially because she always refused to say who the fathers were.

"Ok." Said Toph breaking the silence "It sounds good enough for me"

"Are you sure about this?" Sokka still sounded a little skeptical, something comprehensible since he was so directly affected by the public life. Toph, as the chief of police, just threatened putting everyone on jail.

"There is a school with a White Lotus support in this area, doesn't it? And we will make sure it is a serious school. I am quite sure there are all sorts of features to avoid problems with midia and stuff. This might put some sense into the girls' minds."

Lin could not resist, she found herself standing up and jumping on a hug. She had asked her mother to go to regular school before, but the chief of police insisted this was nonsense, since schools are nothing more than a bunch of walls and rules. "Thank you so much, mom, you will not regret it"

The police chief tapped her girl hand while twisting the mouth "I'm already giving it a second thought, this was supposed to be a punishment, not something to get excited about."

"Er—yes, I am sorry, mom." She let her mother go back to her noodles and got back to her sit.

The little Suyin did not say anything about it, she was too young to really know what they were talking about, but she did not like the idea of going to the so-called 'regular school'. She liked to be around her family, and being the center of attention, as the youngest member it was a really easy task. As the weekend passed, and her sister explained to her what a regular school looks like, she started hating the idea even more.


	2. Chapter 1,5 - Pillow Talk

**This is small Tokka chapter, I am publishing it today as a Christmas present to all Tokka fans around 3 **

**I hope you like it. Sorry about any mistakes, English is not my first language. Chap 2 will be uploaded soon. **

**xxxXXXxxx**

"Spit it out, goatee man" Toph was already upset about Sokka's silence and constantly walking around her bedroom.

"Spit _what_ out?" He stopped looking at her. He was so deep on his thoughts that he really did not know what she was talking about.

"If I knew '_what_' I would not be asking, meat head" the police chief closed the bedroom door, since she was sure both of her girls were already sleeping. "Although I have the feeling it is something to do with the girls going to school" she crossed her arms in front of the chest.

"Oh... yeah..." he came back to earth "I am not sure it's a good idea"

"You are the one who is always saying that I should try to give them a more '_normal_' life" She got her hair clips out of her hair, losing her hair down. It had grown really long within the years. Sokka stared at their movement for a moment.

"You know what I mean" he dryly pointed out.

"Sokka, if the public didn't figure it out up until now, is not the fact that they will go to school that will make them discover something" She stopped leaning against the dresser. She rather focused on his name at the beginning of the sentence. The earth bender hardly ever called him by his name. When she did, he would know she was being serious.

"What if one of them accidently tell a classmate... or even worst, their teacher..." he started drawing himself into his thoughts again.

"Hey... hey... chill out, Councilman. How are they going to say anything if they, themselves, don't know about it" she reached his arm, trying to calm him down.

"I'm not so sure about that anymore. Lin is growing more and more perceptive each day. She might already know" He sighted.

"I would know if she knew. They can't lie to me, remember?" She took of her top, now she was just wearing her pants and bra. Just at this point that the councilman noticed that she was already on the bed, and he was still wearing his full working outfit.

"Are you sure about it?" He asked finagling undressing his tunic "The last thing I need know is someone spreading rumors about myself knocking the police chief up while I was still married"

Both of them kept in silence of a moment. The truth is that this thing was something they carried every day trough out their lives. Like a seed that keeps chocking you. And when it was said out loud; it was somehow a relief, but it was also scary.

"Even if she knew... she would not say anything to anyone about it." Toph sighted on her bad. Her eyes looked sad, even though she tried to do not show it on her voice.

"You don't know that." Sokka sat down on the bed, with the same look "She soon will be a teenager, and she might get really confused about it, especially because I am not her father. She sure will feel that it was unfair that she never got to met hers, while Suy-"

"Can we just cut this crap out?" Toph taped the bed side, biting her lower lip. She hated this talk. She hated those thoughts. She would keep her secrets as far as she could, sometimes, even from herself. For the girls sake, yes. But this also freaked her out too. Moreover, this was about Sokka too.

"I'm sorry" He said finally lying down. As he did, Toph snuggled herself into his chest. That reminded herself how small she really was, specially compared to the man on her bedside. "Deep inside, I know you are right. I think going to school is the best for the girls. But…"

Toph smiled passing her hand over his chest "I know something that will take your mind out of this" she said a skanky voice.

"Hum... you do?" He replied with the same tone

"Let's make another one so will worried a bunch of other things but this won't be one of them" she giggled kissing his neck

"You totally don't know when to stop joking. Do you?"


	3. Chapter 2 - Be on school on time

**I would like to give a big thanks to Socket Puppet (thesocketpuppet) for help me with my work. I believe the reading of this chapter will get much smoother thanks to its help! Make sure to check ateliersockpuppet at tumblr, and Sock's fanfics: Nowhere Fast and The Oathbreaker. They are great!**

**I hope you enjoy the chap 2! I would love to read my reader's toughts about it. Fell free to PM me or review.**

**xxXXXxx**

The chief of police got the first two days of the week off. Of course, this put the whole police department in commotion. However, Toph knew her priorities; one of the most important things in life is one's family. The second most important things was: make people believe you don't know what your priorities are.

It took her a few days to arrange everything. She would take the first two or three days off as the girls start school. After those first few days, Katara would be responsible to pick the girls up after school, and take them to the Air Temple Island until their mother left work. It was the only way the water bender would not be mad about the whole issue anymore. Katara got really surprised that Toph was realy going to send the girls to regular school. The water bender was not sure how to fell about it. It sounded so out of Toph's character. She didn't say anything about it, though.

There were a bunch of things she should be doing on the girls' first day. Nevertheless, she did not need an alarm clock, as Lin jumped into her bad as soon as the first sunrays appeared on the sky.

The earth bender master groaned. For a moment she thought she was back in Gaoling where she needed to wake up early and get dressed by the maids. It was really a relief to hear the voice of her oldest daughter by her side.

"C'mon, mom. It's the first day of school!"

Toph laughed, grabbing her daughter by her neck and forcing Lin to lie down on the bed with her. "Oh, no. Five more minutes" she joked, but Lin just pushed her. She was so excited about the day that she did not want to spend even one second joking around.

"I'm serious mom! You have to look good for our first day!" She said jumping out of bed and going to the wardrobe. She opened it scrolling around her mother's uniforms "Do you only have those to wear?!"

"Since when did you started to worry about appearances?" Toph said still lying down. "I surely didn't teach you that."

"I just want..." she stopped talking for a moment. She could not find the right words. She finally found a light green tunic among her mother's clothes and pulled it out "I don't want people thinking bad things about our family." Toph knew that those were not the eight years old's words. Especially coming from her eight year old girl. Someone must have said something like this to her. It's not that Toph got offended by her words or anything, she just imagined her kid saying something like _'I don't want you to make me look like a weirdo'_, not those fancy words.

"Fair enough," she said bitterly, rising from her bad, and as soon as Lin put her eyes on her, she noticed that the clothes were not her such a big problem, compared to her hair. Messy. Tangled. Horrible.

"We should have called Aunt Katara" she said with a long breath.

"No way!" screamed Toph. "Let me do my magic."

In no time, the earth bender got a few elastics and hairpins and set her hair on a bun, as she does every day before going to work. It was practical, fast and painless. The agility of her mother made Lin feel safer. To the point that she even asked herself why she was worried at first place. Bumi did not know what he was talking about. He had never gone to school, and he did not know how awesome her mother really was. She just gave the clothes she picked up and went to Suyin's room to help her little sister get dressed.

"Hey! Slothy! Wake up, is the first day of school" Su acted like a zombie when she was woken up. It was almost unbelievable that this was the same girl that had energy to run around the house all day long. Su turned herself around in the bed, trying to avoid her sister. That was when Lin noticed a darker stain on her sister bed. She slowly touched it with the tip of her index finger and then smelled it. "Argh! Gross! Do you still pee on bed?! Haha, you are such a baby! I don't think you will be able to go to school that way, _pee bender_!"

Suyin opened her eyes and sat on her bed, looking around and seeing that what her sister was saying was true. Normally she would have punched her Lin's face, or pulled her hair, or even bit her hand. However, something about this situation made her very sensitive, and she burst into tears.

The next thing the girls heard was the door slamming against the wall and Toph getting inside angrily. There were very few things that Lin could do that would make her mad, and the worst of them was to make her little sister cry.

"Lin, go brush your teeth, now." she said close to the door.

"But I have already brus-"

"Go dress yourself or do whatever you need to do. I will dress Suyin up."

Lin stamped her feet as she walked away from the room. It was her first day as a normal girl and her sister was already ruining it. She had the feeling that Suyin was her mother's favorite daughter. She saw herself in much more trouble than Su did. She tried to forget about that as she went to her room check her backpack.

Toph slowly walked to Suyin's bed, and she rubbed the girls back to try to calm her down. "It's ok, badgermole. There is nothing wrong about wetting your bed once in a while."

"Stupid Lin!" the girl screamed making sure Lin could hear it from the next room. Few people know it, but for three years old girls, stupid is the worst word possible to call someone.

"Hey, stop that. You do not talk like this about your sister." Toph's voice sounded really angry this time. Even though Lin felt the opposite, Toph did not take sides. She would not tolerate anyone saying or doing anything bad to her girls. Even if this person was one of her own daughters. It is true that at that age, Lin would get much more trouble than Su would, since the little sister was much more powerless. But, this would change within time. Toph breathed deeply and tried to use a nicer tone. "Now let's change those sheets?"

"I'm sorry, mama." Suyin gathered her blankets, sobbing as her mother helped her take the sheets out of the bed.

"Hey, I already told you it happens. You don't have to worry about it." she said that, but deep inside the got surprised. It had been a while since Suyin last wet her bed. She was always very independent but she had up and downs if she wanted to ask for attention.

Toph finished cleaning the bed, and gave the youngest Bei Fong a quick shower Lin was already impatient outside the bathroom.

"We are going to be late, we should be having breakfast by now, and you didn't even start to cook!"

Toph sighed as she tried to make her youngster cooperate on putting on her new school uniform and not run around the wet bathroom "Get some damn fire flakes or something like this, Lin. I need to domesticate your sister first."

Lin groaned angrily, going to the kitchen, but, happily, something stopped her. Even better, someone. She heard the click on the door as Sokka came in. He was wearing his works clothes already.

"Thanks the spirits you are here, Uncle Sokka."

"Yeah, I know how messy a schedule can get with your mother involved on it. We almost didn't make it to the Fire Nation before the solar eclipse," he giggled hugging the oldest Bei Fong sister. "What can I help you with?"

xxXXXxx

Meanwhile, Toph was crouched on the bathroom as Suyin got a handful of water tossed on her mother face. She immediately noticed how bad this idea was, but she could not help it. It was done. She run on her mother's opposite direction but before she could reach the bathroom door Toph got her into her arms, holding her.

"Why do you have to make things so difficult?" her face was still wet, and now she started really losing her patience "You know what? I'm tired of this, put those clothes on yourself"

She let the school uniform reach the ground and she stands up to dry up her face. The sleeves of her robe were also wet. Toph would not be happy to see how messy things got. She did not want to admit, but she was herself anxious that day.

The adaptation process is a big deal for the kids, but is also a big thing for the mothers. Toph did not want to be like her own mother. She wanted to be someone who would let her girls do anything they wished to do. So, why was it so hard?

She was so earnest in her thoughts that the little funny scene happening close to her almost came unnoticed. Suyin was trying to put on her clothes, but was not very lucky; she ended up all tangled on the robe, as she put her head where the arm was supposed to go, while she was still holding her belt.

"Mama, help! I can't breathe!" the girl exaggerated shaking her only free arm on the air.

"Ok... ok..." she giggled kneeing down again to her the girl. It was rather interesting, how she would refuse to get dressed by her mother, but as soon as Toph gave up on doing it, she would cooperate. She was indeed her girl.

"Tie my belt, mama!" She said giving the piece of fabric to the older one.

"Why don't you tie it up yourself?" Toph teased her.

"Hm... Because mama_ do_ it best!" she teased her mother back. The truth was that, just like most three years olds, Suyin could not tie a knot, but she would not say that "Will you always tie my belt, mama?" she said lazily.

Toph felt a sort of sickness. It started right over her chest and it speeded all over her body. Her stomach felt sick, her feet week, her mouth dry. She felt it before, not once, but many times. She knew it was no disease, it was her own maternal instincts coming against her beliefs. She felt it the first when she left Lin with Katara to go to work for the first time after the girl was born, and as she felt again when her girl started walking, and doing a bunch of other things for herself. Somehow, she got used to it. In fact, things were much easier to deal with Suyin. But once in a while she got this feeling all over again.

"Pay attention so you can try it yourself next time." As she tied her girl's belt she got herself wondering when it would be the last time she would do. She could not remember when was the last time she did it to Lin. And that felt so strange. Her true wish was to promise her girl that if she did not want to, her mother could tie her belt up on and on. She would never need to tie them herself. She would always have her 'mama' to do it for her. But this was just not right. "Got it, badgermole?"

"Yes, mama!" She smiled jumping on her arms. And Toph thanked the spirits that the girl did not notice the tears on her face.

xxXXXxx

"Who called you here, goatee man?" Toph entered the kitchen with Suyin in her arms. The girl was really cute in the kindergarten suit. She was dressed in a white and gray tunic which came up to her knees, there were golden details embroidered to the sleeves, and on her left chest the school insignia, a turtle duck.

"My instincts told me that Lin would need help today. So I decided to pop by." he said serving an omelet over some rice.

"I will only accept you here because you make a wonderful breakfast." Toph said sitting Suyin on a high chair and seating herself.

"Hmmm they taste so much better than mother's!" Lin said having a bite. She was also dressed on her uniform already. It looked pretty much like Suyin's one, but the tunic was longer, there was an obi over the top and instead of a tutle-duck on her chest, there was a lion-turtle.

"Don't tease me. I can still kick him out of here." Her mother joked. It was good that Sokka was around, that way she could put those unpleasant thoughts away.


	4. Chapter 3 - Adaptation Process

**Hi reader s2**

**I would like to thanks thesocketpuppetone more time for being the best Beta reader ever! And I would like to give a special thanks to Free-Spirited Dreamer, too! She has being a great follower, very patient and giviming me reviews and all s2! Make sure to check her stories: Nabbing The Bride and Just Play Along. They are great.**

**Hope you enjoy this new chapter! I would love to get your reviews! Thay make me really happy!**

**xxXXXxx**

She insisted that Sokka come back to his duties as Councilman, and he insisted on taking part in this process. The master of earth bending couldn't tell if she was annoyed he was interfering with her life, or glad that he was.

The school was just some blocks away from the Bei Fong's residence. Two blocks before the school it was possible to see kids everywhere and teens wearing uniforms, always giggling and running, some in a hurry, some just with a youthful spirit.

The Lion-Turtle Elementary School and Duckly-Turtle Kindergarten were part of a school system certificated by the White Lotus for being a secure all-nations environment for the new generation of kids that no longer lived in the shadow of war. They were all together in one big block at downtown Republic City. The building was large and with big windows, the outside was a big playground and garden area where kids would play and chat before the bells ring.

Lin thanked the spirits that her mother would not be able to see the big sign full of rules, because one of them was "no bending during classes". Just like Katara used to say it. The eight year old could not understand why such a rule existed. It just looked senseless. If you have an ability, why not use it for your education? However, she was so happy to be there that she did not mind those kind of nonsense rules, as long as she could go to school. She was walking, holding hands with her mother, and as soon as she saw the gates, she rushed in front of her mother.

"The elementary building is right here" she said pulling up her backpack and fixing her belt "I will be fine from here, you can go find the kindergarten building."

"Ok," Toph said with no sign of worry. "See you after school, badgermole."

"Wait, Toph," interrupted Sokka, who was holding the youngest on his arms "Shouldn't we go with her? At least to check that everything is all right and help her find her classroom?"

"You don't need to, uncle Sokka. I can take care of myself," said the girl.

"Sometime I wish you didn't look so much like your mother," he nodded his head as he said it. Before he could go any further with his speech, a strange voice interrupted them.

"You are Toph Bei Fong, chief of police, right?" it was a school official; he was wearing the white, gray and golden uniform, but an adult version with it, that included a longer tunic and a hat. "That meaning this little girl must me Lin Bei Fong, our newest student. I am Pong; I'm responsible for the kids' arrival at school and safety on the outside area. Welcome to the Lion Turtle School**_._**"

They all bowed as he presented himself and Lin could not contain a big smile at her face. She was just so excited about everything.

"I didn't know Councilman Sokka would be here too." The man seemed to pay attention to the newspaper, having no problem identifying the figures.

"Well…. I'm here just for moral support," and as he said that Toph punched his arms. Just like old times. Pong laughed.

"And who is this little girl here?" He said approaching the girl on Sokka's arms. However, he did not get any answer from the girl, who just hid her face in her _uncle's _chest.

"This is Suyin, my youngest." added Toph as she knew Su would play shy for someone she just met.

"Well, the director told me you would be coming and asked me to bring you to her office. Would you mind?" he said showing them the way.

They got through the corridors together. As the ring bell, the few kids who were still in the outside area rushed to their classes. The director's office was on the first floor. They all got inside, even though Pong was a little confused if he should allow the Councilman to go in too, but he didn't think he had the authority to send him away.

"The Bei Fongs are here, Mrs. Mishin" Pong announced "And Councilman Sokka is with them**_._**"

"Oh, please come in." the woman stood up and give a big bow in respect. She was wearing a dark red dress with the ensign of the school on her obi. The yellow eyes could be seen behind her old fashioned glasses and there were wrinkles all over her face. Her hair, tied on a bun, was a dark brown, but there was a large white stripe on it. "We have some very important students here, but I think there is no parent meeting compared to this one. It is such an honor to meet you Chief Bei Fong. And… Councilman Sokka, right? I am Director Mishin. Please, take a seat."

Toph tried not to laugh about the fact that she seemed to be more famous than Sokka. Nevertheless, the director rushed into a lot of information before one joke could be done. She talked about the school schedule, when the classes started, when it was lunchtime and when the kids were supposed to be picked up. She also went through a whole speech about the curriculum of the school, even with bending classes, modern history and other subjects. The truth was that Toph stopped paying attention a long time ago, but she was trying to pretend to listen. Lin, on the other hand, listened to everything carefully, taking mental notes to herself. She did not want to be in trouble there, not now that she finally managed to go to regular school. Suyin started to swing her legs and pull her uncle's goatee, impatiently. The mother could not help to yam at some point of the director's monologue, what made her rush through the final information that she needed to add.

"I know is a lot of information to deal with but because of your… hm… condition… Miss Bei Fong, I thought it was best to talk about it instead of just handle you the school organization chart and contract."

"Lin can read it for me if we need to." She twisted her mouth at the director's sensitivity to talk about her blindness "Are we about done here? I need to take Suyin to the Kindergarten building."

"Oh, of course. Pong will escort Lin to her class, she needs to go too since the classes already started. But…" Pong bowed and called for Lin while Mrs. Mishin reached for something on her desk "I do need you to fill some forms and give me signatures."

"I guess there is no problem if I do it for her," Sokka made himself available. The director watched the girl leave the room and had a confused face.

"Well…" she did not know if it was fine for someone who was not even related to the student to fill those forms, but she did not seem to have a choice. "I guess there is no problem. You are not going to bring us to court or anything because of this breach of protocol, will you?"

Sokka laughed as he got the paper work "Can I bring this tomorrow? I am afraid this little girl will not be able to stand still one more minute**_._**" He added as Suyin pulled his goatee one more time.

"Sure, no problem," Mrs. Mishin tried to smile, already counting how many rules this family had broken before even being part of the school.

xxXXXxx

"I have no idea why Lin is so excited about going to a place like this," said Toph as she got Suyin into her arms, making sure the councilman's goatee would not be pulled out of his face for once.

"She just want to act as a normal kid**_._**" Sokka giggled "Remember Aang when we got to the fire nation? That school, and secret party dance and stuff?"

"Yeah, I guess so…." She had a half smile as they walked to the Kindergarten building. This one was smaller, and the walls were painted in all kinds of colors. The toys in front of the building were smaller, and Suyin, who up until now did not show any interest on the school, decided to jump of her mother's lap and try the toys.

"I'm glad to finally meet you, Mrs. Bei Fong**_._**" In no time a young lady showed up by the door. She had light brown hair, green eyes and a big smile on her face. She was dressed in white comfortable clothes and had a light blue and golden apron. She bowed in respect to the chief of police and then rose up again, with a curious look to Sokka "And you are Mr. Bei Fong I suppose."

"Hr—no! I'm Sokka. I am just a friend of the family" Sokka gawkily smiled**_._**

"Oh, I am sorry. I just assumed-" the girl smiled as awkwardly as Sokka did, and turned to Toph again "Anyway. I am Hui Fang. I will be your daughter's teacher**.**"

"Su, come over here." Toph shouted still facing the teacher waiting for the girl to come over "This is Miss Hui, she will be your teacher here"

Suyin just hid herself behind her mother's legs. She was curious but also scared. She actually has met just a few people outside of the "Avatar family". As she did not dare to say hello or bow to the teacher. The young professional knelt next to her while smiling.

"Hello Su, nice to meet you**_._**"

Suyin still did not look to her new teacher, just hiding herself behind Toph. This was really out of her character, as she was usually curious and independent.

"You know, I bet Miss Hui has all kinds of toys in her classroom." Sokka tried to ease the situation. "Do you have any badgermole plushes? Suyin has two at her house, she takes them everywhere!"

"Hm…. I don't think we have a badgermole. But we have a Shirshu plush! And Rabaroos, cat-owls…" then she made an expression as if she had the best idea ever "Oh! And we even have a meadow vole, but this one is not a toy. It's a real one! Would you like to see it, Suyin?"

The teacher indeed was good with kids. She offered her hand to the young girl, who reached for it, but stopped herself for a moment, looking to her mother, as if she was waiting for approval**.**

"You can go, baby girl. Miss Hui is going to show you the school**_._**" Toph showed confidence and trust on her words, this was enough to make the girl finally go with Miss Hui**_._**

"I will ask you to stay around for an hour or so, just to work with the adaptation process. If Suyin is alright you can go home and come back at the end of the class." Miss Hui added before going in the building and Toph answered with a positive nod.

Both Toph and Sokka sat down on the outside garden. Toph fell into a deep silence for a few minutes. Sokka started to think about leaving, since he needed to go back to the City Hall, but he stopped due to Toph next words.

"Oh shit…" she muttered. "the floor is covered in foam. I can't sense her anymore."

"It makes sense. Kids at her age fall a lot, it must be some sort of protection." Sokka pointed out without a concern. However, when he looked back at the girls' mother, she seemed tense. "Well…well… well… is this really Chief Bei Fong?! Are you worried about the girls?"

"No way! They are my kids! They know how to take care of themselves!" She sounded offended.

"Just saying… just saying… Poppy Bei Fong."

Toph frowned and somehow managed to give a mad look at Sokka, who laughed at the earth bender's reaction. He knew how she hated being called her mother's name. They stayed sitting a few more minutes.

"You should get going now, Councilman Meathead, or the City Hall will be in chaos when you get there**_._**"

"Yeah, I guess you are right," he said standing up and stretching his arms. "Those guys are hopeless without me. And since the police station must be a mess today, I better get going**_._**"

"Hey…" Toph interrupted before he could actually leave, "thanks for dropping by**.**"

Sokka did not answer. Somehow, Toph managed to figure out he was smiling.

Toph stayed at school for one hour and a half before the teacher said it was ok for her to go home. She was rather reluctant about going back, she attested that she had got her day of, and there was no problem about staying there. But, the teacher insisted. Therefore, the chief of police gave up and went home.

She could not remember when was the last time the house was this quiet. Lin and Suyin had gotten her spirit for adventure and thus was often very loud. Every day she would leave the Police Station, go to the Air Temple Island, get the kids and go home. She could not remember when was the last time things were so… _still_. Even on the days she would wake up before the girls she could hear their bodies on their beds.

The blind earth bender had never stopped to think about it, but she found the house too big for herself. The place was a vast emptiness. Most people would argue that Toph should have missed it. Being alone. No responsibilities. And she did try to enjoy her time alone there. However, she could not. She could not stop thinking about Lin and Su.


	5. Chapter 4 - School hours

**Hi everyone s2**

**Here is chepter 4! I was super happy with it, and as always I would like to thank my beta, ****thesocketpuppet** **for the help! I would also like to say thank you for those who favorite and follow my work. I always check your profiles and read things you publish. Have you checked out ****NazChick** **fics? She is great! If you like my work you will sure enjoy hers too!**

**As some of might have noticed, I work as a teacher. Sadly, summer vacation is almost gone, and school will be back soon. I am exited to see my students again, but this might inplay that the chapters will take longer to be pushied. I hope my readers can understand.**

**Thanks for the support! Enjoy the reading! Feel free to live reviews!**

**xxXXxx**

At the Lion-Turtle Elementry School the bells tolled, announcing the lunch break.

Lin was so anxious that the palm**s** of her hands were sweeting. When she presented herself in front of the class, there was some sort of commotion about her**;** the students would whisper thing one to another, but the teacher (an old man with a bun on his back and golden eyes) interrupted the kids, asking them to hold their questions for lunch break. So there she was, and she had no idea what to do. She decided to just mimic what the other kids were doing. As they went out of the classroom, she followed them. As they found a seat outside, she also followed. As they got their lunch boxes to eat…. She noticed that she did not have a lunch box herself. Luckily, she had got some dumplings on her backpack. So she got a couple to eat. Before the young earth bender could have the first bite a boy from her class approached her. He looked rather anxious, and he was obviously pulled to the conversation, since a bunch of other boys were right behind him, whispering between each other.

"Er—hi!" said the boy, with his hands on his back.

"Hi…." Lin said**,** waiting for him to say whatever he needed to say before she started eating. There was an awkward moment of silence before the other student decided to go on.

"I am Hyun, we are in the same class!" He said**,** still in a strange tone.

"Ahm…. Yeah, nice to meet you Hyun." She was sitting down, staring at him in front of her.

"Well… my friends and I… we were wondering. You said your name is Lin Bei Fong. Are you somehow related to Chief Toph Bei Fong?"

She knew that her mother was kind of famous, but she had no idea it was this much.

"Yeah, she is my mother**.**" Lin answered in a very natural tone**.**

"Really?! I knew it!" the classmate was now all zippy, and called his friends over**. **"Hey, guys! I was right! She _is_ the chief's daughter!"

In no time, Lin found herself surrounded. People gathered around her asking all sorts of questions.

"What is _SHE_ like in person?"

"Can you metal bend, too?"

"Do you know Avatar Aang?"

Even before she could properly answer each question, another one was pulled out. The few boys around her turned into a concourse of people. She never noticed, but carrying the Bei Fong name was really a thing. She became popular immediately.

The commotion just calmed down when three older kids approached. They looked around eleven or twelve years old. One of them was tall, had short black hair, styled in a type of mohawk. His eyes were golden brown. The other one was a girl, but she had very short hair, about the chin line. Her skin was darker, like aunt Katara's, and she had light blue eyes. The last one was a boy, he had straight brown hair, in a really strange way pulled to the side; he was the only one who carried an upset face. Their uniforms were pretty much the same as the other kids, but next to the collar, there was a golden pin of a pro-bending playing field.

"So, the rumors are true, there is a Bei Fong among us." the boy said crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I'm Long Wei, those are Fayim and Shan. We are from the Junior Pro-Bending team."

"Wow, the school has a pro-bending team?" Lin's eyes were shining as she asked. The three kids giggled looking at each other.

"Yeah, and a pretty good one. We have several trophies at the hall, most of them Republic City Championship." Long Wei voice was stubborn, he really made an impression on Lin. "I suppose you must be a great bender, since you are the chief's daughter and all."

"Well… mom always say I have a lot to learn…" she said in a low tone, but soon got herself up, rising her chin as to impose her position, "but she always says I'm a natural, too. I am a Bei Fong, after all. I will even start my metal bending training soon."

Everyone started talking. A metal bender was really something the school never had, but since she was Toph's daughter, they might finally get one. Shan rolled his green eyes; he did not believe a little girl like her could ever be a metal bender, he should know, his father was a metal bender and even with proper instruction, Shan was not able to bend a single paper clip. However, the fire bender and the water bender were smiling.

"You should stop by _the field_ one of these days, we are always training after classes." Long Wei said with a malicious smile "You are still too young to join the team, but you might find it interesting. See you around, Bei Fong."

So they left. Lin spent the next hour talking to her classmates, but the subject was not herself or her mother anymore. It was all about pro-bending. She soon learned that there were 3 subcategories on the Junior championship, 10 to 12 (or Xiǎo category), 13 to 15 (Jiān category) and 16 to 18 (the Lǎo category). The school reached the second overall place on the competition last year, but the youngest team (which she has just talked to) got the third place on the Xiǎo category, if they had a better position, the school would have been the first place that year. Shan, the earth bender, was pointed out by several kids as the responsible for this, while a few kids insisted he was a great bender.

Lin did not speak much that day, but she could not get the pro-bending team out of her mind. She would really like to try it.

xxxXXXxxx

Meanwhile, at the Duckly-turtle kindergarten building, Suyin was presented by the teacher to her classmates during circle time. Her classmates introduced themselves one by one during a little song, but the truth is that the little Bei Fong could only remember Miss Hui's name, and that the meadow vole was called Mr. Longteeth. Nevertheless, she would soon learn all the other 10 kid's names.

There were two teachers in the room, Miss Hui Fang and an assistant. However, the class was big, there were many kids, and toys as far as Suyin could see. Everything was just so different from what she was used to. At the Air Temple Island, she was the youngest, she was less than 6 years younger than Lin, it was not that much, but at that specific point of her life it made her feel as she was the only child there. Katara was usually worried about her own kids and Lin. It's not that she didn't care for Suyin, she was actually really found of her, and would keep her by her side all the time. However, the water bender was always so busy that she could not give her "_niece"_ a more learning-friendly environment.

Although the classroom looked magical, as the whole world had shrank so the little Suyin would fit in, everything was, also, very scary. When we grow up we often forget how frightening it is to feel things for the first time, we eventually learn how to deal with it, but we also forget how strangely amazing the world is. Suyin decided that the first thing she should do for this challenge was to take off her shoes. She would work thing through there. She walked around, she touched all toys, started playing with one or another, but as soon as she saw a different one she would change toys, and desperate to try that other, leaving the first one behind. She could hardly speak that day, and spirits knew that she could speak well… and _so_ much, but she did not find the energy to do it. She had much more to discover. No time to waste talking.

Republic City had become a safe place for people from all nations, and that little kindergarten room was proof of it. Most of the kids were City-born, many of those had parents from different nations and there were some foreigners.

It took her sometime to notice that what was most impressive about that place was not the toys, but the people. She had never seen so many kids of her own age in her life. Most of them were pale, more like Lin's skin than her own. Black or brown hair; their eyes were brown, golden or green. Kids do not notice skin colors and races as the adults do, they are free from societal prejudices, so it was not strange when a couple of kids, whose skin was darker and the eyes were a deep blue, called her attention. They immediately reminded Suyin about Kya, one of the Avatar kids, and Aunt Katara whom she was really found of, and she decided to go play where they were playing. They were siting by a round table with colorful chairs around it, and they were holding crayons and giggling about their drawings.

"I will draw a biiiiiiig sea snake!" said the boy as making big round movements with a blue crayon.

"But my snake is going to be a girl, and she will have a pink hair tie over her head!" said the girl getting the pink crayon from the crayon box in the middle of the table.

"What is this?" asked Suyin sitting by the kid's side, and that was one of the first things she said that day.

"We are having a drawing competition!" Said the boy, and soon he shared his own drawing in front of the chief's daughter. "Witch one looks the best? _My _or Shu's?"

"Mine is _most cuter_! 'Cause it has got a pink hair tie! Look!" said the girl jumping in front of Suyin basically rubbing her drawing on the new student's face.

"Your snake looks like ant's poop!" said the boy angrily.

"Miss Hui! Wahid is being mean to me again!" cried the girl aloud, and the teacher soon came in response, kneeling next to the table where the kids were playing.

"Wahid, what did I tell you about being mean to your sister?" the teacher said in a calm tone.

"She said her drawing is _more good _than mine!" claimed the boy tossing his own drawing on the floor in frustration**.**

"Oh. Is that so?" Said the teacher, calmly, getting the drawing from the floor and looking at both pieces**.** "I don't think Shu's drawing is _better_ than yours. I think both of them are great! What about you, Su? Did you draw anything?"

She did not dare to talk to the teacher, she was still shy, so she just shook her head "no". She got herself a paper and a crayon from the middle of the table and tried to draw something. She had no idea how to hold the crayon, she used the palm of her hand instead of her fingers, and instead of trying to make lines, she started punching the crayon up and down, making little dots on the paper. She had seen Lin, Tenzin and Kya writing on the Island, she had a brush on her hands just once or twice and just for a few minutes (before aunt Katara get it from her hands because she was too young to use it), and she had definitely never got a crayon. She looked at her drawing and them back to the teacher, almost believing that she would say it was wrong. However, Miss Hui just smiled.

"That's nice, Su" she got the drawing on the table, a bunch of dots and a few small lines on it. "What is it?"

Su looked at her drawing and at the teacher. She did not understand the question. That was simply a sheet of paper with crayon on it. Nothing more. Nevertheless, the teacher insisted at the question.

"I don't know," said Su**,** biting the top of the crayon.

"It looks like the sky full of stars!" said Shu pointing to the selling.

"No! It's more like many flies going around rotten penguin meat!" shouted Wahid.

The teacher laughed and got a new sheet of paper to Suyin and the water tribe twins. Su observed how the other kids did their drawings, scrambling around the paper, changing colors and describing them as "the beach" or "a raboroo" and "me and my mom and daddy cooking" even though those drawings didn't look much like what the kids were describing.

She did not yet have the fine motor skills to create a drawing, or the abstraction to give it a meaning. After a few attempts, she was finally able to draw some lines, she was rather clumsy doing it, and her paper got folded and the table full of crayon marks (as sometimes she was not able to stop before she reached the wood). At the end of the day, she was working very hard on something using brown and a little blue and green.

"And this one? What is it?" asked Miss Hui, curiously, observing the strong lines crossing the paper.

"A badgermole for mom."


	6. Chapter 5 - Pick up

**Hi guys! I'm sorry I have been away for such a long time. There are couple of things going on that kept me away. Plus, my original beta, Sock, will not be able to help me anymore. I got sad because she is such a great person, but I do understand that she had to stop. Anyway, thanks for all the good work, Sock 3. My new Beta is a nice guy from my country. English is not his mother tongue but he speaks it amazingly! Let me know if he is doing a good job!**

**Have a good reading!**

Toph was at the school more than 30 minutes earlier to pick the girls up. She could get Suyin, whose classes would finish around 10 minutes earlier than Lin's, and them move to the other building, where she would get the older sister.

She was sitting on the outside area waiting for the teacher, who would go down a few minutes earlier than usual to give her feedback about her daughter's first day.

Toph could not help wondering how the girls' day was. Were they having fun? Were they dealing well with their new classmates? Have they eaten properly? She had never felt this sort of things, not so heavily. The girls were always in a controlled environment at the Air Temple Island, and she was not sure if that school would be good enough for them. Her disturbing thoughts were interrupted by two people walking to the building. They were two student's mothers, chatting about their kids.

"… this worked fantastically for the twins. And they can't even read yet! I think it will help your kids a lot," said what sounded like a young lady, Toph imagined that she should be 25 or something.

"I will try that. I can't handle Shan sometimes. As the oldest he should set an example for his simblings, but ever since he lost the championship he has been struggling for attention. I guess this is normal." Said the other woman's voice, who sounded like on her late 30, maybe almost forty. Toph captured something familiar about it - "My brother used to drive me mad just so – Wait, Chief Bei Fong, is that you?"

"Ahm… yeah. Hi there" - she stood up and bowed. She knew there was something familiar about the voice. She had met that woman before, on an office party, not so long ago - "You're Officer Hao's wife right?"

"Oh! You remember me? I'm Yanyu. And this is my friend, Quiyue." - said the women on a stubborn tone, she was showing off for her friend, happy to be recognized by someone as important as her husband's boss. - "What are you doing around here?"

"It's my kids' first day at school" - she confessed, and there was some sort of pride on her words.

"Spirits! My kids study here too." - The older woman said in excitement - "Republic City is not that big, is it?".

"It's a small world after all" - added Quiyue - "How old are your kids?"

"Lin is eight; she is in the elementary building." - Toph tried the small talk - "Suyin has just turned three, she is in Miss Hui Fang class"

"Oh! So she is in the same class as my kids" - she said politely - "I have got a couple of twins: Wahid and Shu."

"So, tell me, Chief Bei Fong. Is there… anyone around to help you?" - Added the other woman.

"Suyin's teacher will be down in a moment so we can talk" - the chief of police answered without really understanding what the other woman meant.

"I mean…." - She was now a little uncomfortable - "isn't the father around? Do you need help with your kids or maybe…?"

"I'm perfectly fine by myself, Mrs." - Toph answered sharply. She knew that kind of talk. The woman in front of her did not believe that a single mother was able to raise a child by herself, not to mention a blind one. As her fame rose, she did not need to worry a lot with people thinking that she could not take care of herself, she was a war hero, and chief of police after all. However, she was constantly questioned about her motherly skills, and that could make her really angry.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" - the woman looked at Toph and back to her friend without really knowing what to say. Luckily, for Yanyu, Miss Hui had just got down, holding the little Bei Fong on her arms.

"Oh, Mrs. Quiyue, you are here early, I will ask my assistant to take the twins down soon" -she said with her gentle voice and keep always smiling - "I see you already met Ms. Bei Fong, our newest student's mother"

"Oh… Yes! I'm happy to hear her daughter will be classmates with Shu and Wahid." - The mother tried to avoid the awkward moment by adding some nice complements to the conversation.

"Well I have got to talk to her for a few moments, so if you excuse us…" - Toph and Miss Hui entered the building, and the chief of police thanked the spirits for moving away from those strange people. She was not the type of mother that would like chitchatting in front of school.

Miss Hui made a general synopsis of Suyin's first day. She did not give many details, promising the mother that she would give her a full report by the end of the week. Never the less, things were quite smooth for the first day. She did have some trouble to make the little girl keep her shoes on, though.

"Oh… we don't wear shoes at home." - Toph giggled, - "Actually, I don't wear shoes at all. It's part of the '_seeing through earth bending thing_', you know…." - she pointed out showing her barefoot.

"Well… I do understand, but those are school rules. You will have to talk to her about it," - the teacher added in a more severe tone. She did not look like the kind of person who would make a big deal out of it, but she did make sure to point it out.

"Ok, I will try." - Toph sighted, she hated rules, especially stupid ones like this - "Let's go, baby girl?"

"Mama, I _draw _a badgermole for you!" - she said going to her mother's lap and handing her the sheet of paper.

Hui gasped. She did not have time to point out Su' interest for the crayons, and she was somewhat uncertain about how to point it out for Toph, who was blind. The teacher had never been on a situation like this, she could notice that Su did not know that her mother was visually impaired, or maybe she could not fully understand what that meant. Luckily, Toph did not hesitate to get the girl's drawing within a smile.

"Wow! You are an artist! It looks perfect to me!" - the chief of police laughed at her own joke and kissed her daughter's cheeks - "Uncle Sokka will be proud of you! Say thank you to Miss Hui."

"_Thank you to Miss Hui._" - she repeated literally and they both left the building.

**xxxXXXxxx**

It took Pong almost twenty minutes to calm himself down and find the Chief's daughter. Toph did not seem alarmed by the fact that she was missing and even offered him help to find her, but Pong insisted this problem would be solved soon, so she should just wait at the outside area. He found Lin training with the pro-bending teamat the gym area, and he was really upset about it. Kids younger than 10 were not allowed to participate in this sort of activities. The gym teacher tried to defend himself, claiming he was just curious to see a Bei Fong bending, and he did not apply a regular routine for this matter, just an easy going exercise, and a lot of free play. However, it was no good, and according to Pong, the director would know about it.

"I'm sorry it took me so long, Miss Bei Fong," - Pong said rushing while holding Lin's hand - "you have a very energetic young lady over here. She was not supposed to be at the gym area. She received specific instructions to come outside as soon as the classes where over."

"Mom! They got a pro-bending team!" - the girl run in front of Pong and started jumping in front of her mother and sister - "You should have seen them! They are awesome!"

"Wow. Pro-bending? Like the one we listen on the radio?" - Toph ignored Pong and his talking, she did not mind having to wait for Lin - "Well, thank you for taking good care of my girl, Mr. Pong, I will be in charge from here."

The school employee almost did not believe the mother's reaction, and just watched astonished the three Bei Fongs leaving the school area.

**xxxXXXxxx**

Lin was walking beside her mother on the way home, as Toph was holding Suyin within one hand and the drawing the youngest gave her earlier that day. Lin was not seen that excited very often, and even Su understood that she should not be stopped from talking at that point. She said very little about the school itself, instead, she was all over the top about pro-bending.

"The Xiǎo team is great! Long Wei is such a good leader! And Fayim… she must be a better bender than Kya!" - she sounded so excited that she was probably exaggerating a little, but Toph did not mind it.

"What about the earth bender?" - questioned the mother a little sassy - "Is he good?"

"Well… yes, I guess." - Lin said reluctant - "But he has much to improve."

"Let me ask in different words," - Toph giggled, - "Is he better than you?"

"No way!" - interrupted Suyin - "Lin is the second best!"

Lin's smile covered her face and she giggled holding her sister's hand - "And who is the first, then?!"

"Mama!" - screamed the little one snuggling at her mother's neck. They had this little inside joke, assuring their mother was always the best, and that Lin was_ 'just'_ the second place. The older sister knew that soon Su would not play like this anymore, once she started earth bending, she would probably become as stubborn as her mother and sister, and they would be fighting over the 'second place'.

Just then, Lin noticed that her mother was carrying a sheet of paper. She pulled it from the oldest Bei Fong's hands looking a it curiously.

"What is this?" - She thought it was some sort of document. It was not rare the occasions when her mother would come home holding a piece of paper to ask Lin to read it. They were usually newspapers or police reports (witch Sokka was extremely contrary to letting Lin read them, but Toph kept on doing it). However, this one had nothing written on, just lines all over it.

"I _maked_ for mama!" - said Suyin proudly.

"What's this?" - Lin said turning around the paper - "The walls of Ba Sing Se?"

"It's a badgermole," - Toph pointed out.

"Hah! No it's not! It looks more like a badgermole tunnel!" - laughed the older sister looking at the drawing - "But the badgermoles are not home anymore! Heh"

"Mama said it looks perfect!" - mumbled the younger sister pouting.

"Mom is blind, you silly!" - Lin added folding the drawing - "She can't tell the difference of a picture of the Earth Queen and one of a Turtle-duck!"

"Give it back! Don't fold it!" - said Suyin trying to reach for her drawing and this almost made her fall from her mother's arms.

"I find it beautiful anyway" - said Toph, getting the paper out of Lin's hand and giving it back to Su - "Hunf… kids are such a blessing."

**xxXXXxx**

The routine was pretty much the same next day and the day after, but this time Toph was by herself, and the girls almost did not have time for breakfast. It took them sometime to get used to the new routine. Toph learned to make a lunch box for Lin so she could eat at school, and even Suyin got used to getting up earlier than usual.

Soon, Toph days off were over, and she had to come back to the Police Department. From that point on, Aunt Katara or Bumi would come to school to pick the girls up. They would go to the Air Temple Island to spend the rest of the day there, with the Avatar family, playing and practicing their bending until their mother got there after work. Toph did not have regular working hours, sometimes she was at the Avatar's house right before the sundown, and sometimes, the girls would have dinner with the Aunt Katara and her family, as their mother would show up just after Suyin was already sleeping. It did not matter when Toph arrived, the girls were always happy to see her and they would walk home talking about their day. Lin would talk about the boring history class, or how cool the pro-bending team was, and Su about how she learned that if you mix yellow and red it would become orange, and how she would always build the biggest sand castle of the whole class.

Things were pretty easy for Lin during the girls' first week at school. She was already one of the most popular kids in school, she was intelligent, a great bender and carried the Bei Fong name. As for Suyin, on the other hand, the teacher started to get worried. In general she was getting used to the routine, circle time, bathroom and water, free play and playground. She was a natural for activities that involved running, jumping ar other gross motor skills, but while working on activities that concentration and patience was needed, she would soon lose interest. Suyin was a great kid, as far as she was interested on doing what the teachers were told, if she wasn't, she would not respect the rules. She would shout, cry, and give the teachers a lot of work.

On Friday, she could not stand still during the circle time. She would stand up, disturb songs and talk out of time. Miss Hue face was not happy, and she asked her assistant to help Su putting her shoes back. But when the Teacher Assistant (whose name was May) tried, Suyin got one of the shoes and tossed on the assistant face. The little girl could not tell for sure if Miss May's face got all red due the impact, the range, or the urge to cry. The assistant didn't say a thing. She just stood up and called Miss Hue to deal with her.

Suyin was touching the cabinets with extra clothes when Miss Hue's found her. Her eyes were often full of kindness and grace, but the three-year-old girl crouched when noticed that, this time, her teacher's eyes were angry.

"What are you doing, Suyin?" - she asked putting her hands on her waist - "Why are you not participating the circle? And why did you take your shoes off? You know it's against the rules."

"_No want_" - she answered looking away.

"Why not? Is there something wrong?" - the teacher asked kneeling beside the little girl, now with a softer voice - "Is there something wrong?"

"I just… don't like it…" - she pounded - "It sucks."

"You cannot use this those words, Su." - the teacher sighed - "And you cannot hurt your teachers. Ddid you even say sorry to Miss May?"

"_Cannot… cannot… cannot…,"_ - the girl complained on a very low voice, without answering the teacher's question. After that, she yawned.

Miss Hue Fang knew the girl was tough, but she was acting worse than normal, and as soon as she saw her little mouth open, she understood. She happened to be tired. The teacher dragged her to her arms, and Suyin was not against it. On the contrary, she snuggled into the teacher's lap. Everything seemed to be going fine, until Miss Hue started singing a song.

"No, stop!" - she pounded bossy - "I_ wanna_ bed time story."

"Ok, I will tell you a story." - The teacher smiled - "But you're going to say sorry to Miss May and put on your shoes first."


End file.
